Review: Suede – Bloodsports

Published on March 29th, 2013 | Jonny Abrams

Once a band with a majestically gleaming sound, Suede now sound a bit like a cross between The Cribs and The Killers, which should delight the NME but leaves us decidedly cold. The twin distinguishing features of their early output – namely, Bernard Butler’s golden guitar textures and Brett Anderson’s formidable insouciance – are unavoidable by their respective absences, the former on account of Butler’s non-presence, the latter on account of Anderson’s apparent willingness to settle into the uncomfortable-sounding middle ground between ‘back to basics’ and ‘stadium rock anthem’.

Either way, it sounds comparitively pedestrian, lit up by the all-too-occasional flash of songwriting quality that, come to think of it, is usually achieved by dropping in a well-placed minor chord. Blood Sports improves along its duration, though: “Sometimes I Feel I’ll Float Away” is like an hypnotic lullaby, at least until it takes on the ’80s melodrama of the chorus. “Always” gets quite stirring towards its conclusion, and “Faultlines” is an intriguingly Flaming Lips-y deviation, even threatening at various points to break into the remix of Olive’s “You’re Not Alone” that got to number 1, you know the one.

Ah, you do.

Sorry, but as fans of Suede’s early stuff – even up to Coming Up and bits of Head Music – we just don’t dig this. Instead, why not check out this choice cut from their stellar B-sides collection Sci-Fi Lullabies…